Chris Butcher On Humanoids & Rebellion Press Moves

I must admit to not knowing a heck of a lot about either of these imprints that DC Comics just bought the rights to publish. Yet Chris's piece has some very interesting thoughts and comments on it, that made me think of the nature of the recent moves and what they mean.

Nice honor for comic writer

Long time comic scribe Ron Marz has been asked to be the keynote speaker for the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire's English Festival. He is not a alumni of the school, but was chosen to appear for this student run festival.

Great deal at Suncoast Video

If you have ever thought about trying manga, now is a good time to do so thanks to Suncoast video store. --which you'll find in just about every mall-- They are offering a free, with any manga purchase, book called Tokyopop Sneaks, containing coupons and 1 chapter previews of the Crescent Moon, The Demon Oronon, DNAngel, Eerie Queerie, Paradise Kiss, Courtney Love's Princess Ai, Sgt. Frog, and more series of books. This a wonderful way for readers new and old to sample the true diversity that manga has to offer.

I guess I don't hate superheroes

A comment I've been getting lately, because of my interest in manga and my own professed disinterest in a lot of today's strip mining the past style of storytelling. Is that obviously I don't like superheroes, which can't be further from the truth.

While it is true that my interest in the genre has dropped a bit as my interests in other genres has started being stroked by graphic novels and manga.

I think the biggest thing for me is that even though, comparatively speaking, I've been reading comics for a short span of time(just over 15 years) in comparison to most fans. I already am close to the point where everything seems redone, and thus there seems nothing new to me.

Luckily I have good friends who I trade stuff with, and today I receive a shipment of books that looks like they may respark my interest in the genre. In this box are nearly complete runs of DC's Infinity, Inc. and All Star Squadron series.

I've heard people talk about these series for years, and they are obviously very loved given the reliance that today's JSA series has on many of the characters and stories. Yet I wasn't reading comics at the time of their publishing, and until now had no access to them.

Looking on the covers I must admit some excitement, some of the characters are familiar ones, but for the most part they are totally new to me. When i look on these covers and see female versions, who were minorities to boot, of Wildcat and Doctor Midnite I must admit intrigue.

Especially with Wildcat being female, given the rather sexist portrayal of the character in the current JSA series.

I look at these series and wonder how will they hold up? It has been nearly two decades or more since many of the issues saw print. Will I as a new reader coming to them after all of this time be able to appreciate them? I'm curious to find out.

If you're curious as to how I react to them then stayed tuned to this blog over the coming weeks, as I plan to post whatever thoughts and questions I may have on them. I must admit that this is as excited as I've been about anything superhero related in a long time, which is a good if weird feeling.